Other Interesting Facts
I chose this animal because you can find
this bird in many places, and most people know what it is. The
male Mallard is arguably the most iconic duck there is, with its
green head, yellow bill, and bright orange feet. It is thought
to be the most common duck on earth.
They are one of the largest ducks. Of course, this is kind of
hard to determine definitively, since the Mallard has the
tendency to interbreed with other ducks it is closely related
to; they can actually produce fertile offspring. This also gives
the offspring a mixture of color variation in their feathers.
With many hybrid ducks, it becomes hard to distinguish between
them with certainty.
When the male molts, he ends up losing his distinctive green
head of feathers, but still has the white collar ring and
rusty-brown chest. Both males and females are unable to fly
after molting until they re-grow them in time for the fall
migration.
The female has the louder and more distinctive "quack" than
males. Male Mallards have more of a nasal quack that is much
quieter. This noted, males and females together can make a lot
of noise.
Mallards have become quite tolerant of humans. This can be seen
by the number of Mallards living in urban areas, in much greater
frequency than other ducks.